DISCOVERING CINEMA
Presented by Flicker Alley and Blackhawk Films, DISCOVERING CINEMA is a two-disc DVD set comprised of LEARNING TO TALK (2003) and MOVIES DREAM IN COLOR (2004), both produced by Lobster Films/Histoire. Film historians Eric Lange and Serge Bromberg compiled materials from their own Lobster Films collection and material from archives throughout Europe and the USA to create these two historic documentaries illustrating the birth of sound and color in cinema.
Told from a European perspective, these documentaries are replete with footage of international innovations such as Emile Reynaud’s pre-cinema animated projected entertainment Pantomimes Lumineuse; the gadget-packed Alleflex machine for live sync sound effects; Gaumont’s 1905 Chronophone sound film system, using a compressed-air amplifier; Gaumont’s Chronochrome three-color system; additional unique examples of the Kodacolor lenticular color system, Kinemacolor, an additive system using filters; and NotoFilm in which notes of the intended musical accompaniment streams across the bottom of the silent screen.
DISCOVERING CINEMA also includes over two and a half hours of bonus materials including a new restoration of the first live action film to utilize the three-strip Technicolor process, LA CUCARACHA (1934), struck from the original nitrate negatives. Additional bonus features include two 1908 films with songs performed by Enrico Caruso; a 1927 interview with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; an example of a “part-talkie,” an episode of the serial THE COLLEGIANS (1929); the first hand-painted Lumière films from the end of the nineteenth century; a vintage stenciled-colored Paris fashion review from the mid-1920s; and unique color film images of the Marx Brothers shot on the set of ANIMAL CRACKERS (1930).
Contents
Format: DVD-NTSC / Region 0
(No Regional Code)
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DISCOVERING CINEMA: LEARNING TO TALK
(France, 2003)
Director: Eric Lange
Writer: Serge Bromberg
Producer: Lobster Films/histoirre
• 52 minutes
• Color, B&W, Tinted
_________________________________________
DISCOVERING CINEMA: MOVIES DREAM IN COLOR
(France, 2004)
Director: Eric Lange
Writer: Serge Bromberg
Producer: Lobster Films/histoirre
• 52 minutes
• B&W, Tinted, Color
_________________________________________
Bonus Material
QUAND MADELON
(1917)
• 2 minutes
◊
LA PERE LA VICTOIRE
(1917)
• 3 minutes
◊
THE CHAMBER MYSTERY - Excerpt
(1920)
• 3 minutes
◊
MISS VENUS - Excerpt
(1921)
• 3 minutes
◊
LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR
(1908)
• 4 minutes
◊
LA DONNA E MOBILE
(1908)
• 2 minutes
◊
CARMEN: AIR DU TOREADOR
(1910)
• 4 minutes
◊
LA LEGENDE DU ROI GAMBRINUS
(1911)
• 2 minutes
◊
LA MARSEILLAISE
(1911)
• 2 minutes
◊
NURSERRY FAVORITES
(1913)
• 5 minutes
◊
THE JAZZ SINGER - Trailer
(1927)
• 6 minutes
◊
SNAPPY TUNES
(1923)
• 6 minutes
◊
THEODORE CASE TEST FILM
• 32 seconds
◊
GUS VISSER AND HIS SINGING DUCK
• 1 minute
◊
SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
(1927)
• 10 minutes
◊
GOVERNOR YOUNG HAILS GREATER MOVIE SEASON
(1928)
• 2 minutes
◊
FINDING HIS VOICE
(1929)
• 10 minutes
◊
THE COLLEGIANS: “Flying High”
(1929)
• 21 minutes
◊
Hand-Painted films by Lumiere:
BLACKSMITH SCENE (1895, 32 seconds)
DEATH OF MARAT (1897, 38 seconds)
DANSE SERPENTINE (1898, 51 seconds)
EXECUTION OF JOAN OF ARC (1898, 51 seconds)
SPANISH DANCERS (1898, 2 minutes)
◊
Stencil-Colored Films:
METAMORPHOSIS OF THE BUTTERFLY (1904, 1 minute)
THE FLOWER FAIRY (1905, 1 minute)
THE ARAB SORCERER (1906, 2 minute)
PARIS FASHIONS (1926, 4 minutes)
◊
Additional Color Films:
INAGURATION OF THE SAN MARCO CAMPANILE (1912, 11 minutes)
DR. DOYEN COLOR TEST (1912, 40 seconds)
SONIA DELAUNAY COLOR TEST (1928, 24 seconds)
TEA TIME (1937, 3 minutes)
WONDERLAND OF CALIFORNIA (1930, 6 minutes)
THE KING OF JAZZ - Trailer (1930, 3 minutes)
LA CUCARACHA (1934, 19 minutes)
BECKY SHARP - Trailer (1935, 2 minutes)
NEW YORK (1938, 5 minutes)
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
Total Running Time: 04:27:00 (2 Discs)
Language: Silent with English intertitles, English
Musical Score: Eric le Guen & Neil Brand
Published By: Flicker Alley
Institutional Price: $300 (plus shipping)
To order call: 212.280.8654 or click here for information on ordering by fax, e-mail or post.